Railway-crossing.



J. W. EAST.

RAILWAY CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-5, 19x4.

1,139,171 Patented May 11, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- Quanta/13 THE NORRIS PETERS (30.. PHOTO-H1110" WASHINGTON, A C.

J. W. EAST.

RAILWAY CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED AUG- 5. 1914.

1, 1 39, 1 7 1 9 Patented May 11, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Jag

THE NORRIS PETERS 00.. PHOTO-LITHQ. WASFHNGI'DH. D. G

JOHN w. EAST, or Los Antennas, CALIFORNIA.

RAILWAY-CROSSING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1915.

Application filed August 5, 1914. Serial N 0. 855,239.

To all whom it may concern. Be it known that I, JOHN W. EAs'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at'Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railway-Crossings, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to railway crossings, the primary object of the invention being to provide a crossing with slidable bridge rails or blocks and means for operating the same to cause certain of said bridge rails or blocks to fill the gap between the rails at the crossing to permit of the wheels of the rolling stock passing over'a smooth unbroken surface and 'so overcome the liability of injury to the rails at the crossing, the denting of the wheels by contact with spaced rails, as well as overcoming the shock and jar incident to the wheels passing between the gaps at the crossing A further object of the invention is to construct a crossing of this character which shall embody the desirable features of simplicity, cheapness in construction, ease and accuracy in operation.

With the above and other objects in view, the improvement resides in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the followingv specification "and falling within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view of a crossing constructed in accordance with my improvement, a pair of bridge or block rails being moved to fill the gapbetween one pair of rails, to permit of the passage of the car traveling over the said pair of blocks to prevent the bearing flanges of the wheels contacting with the ends of the rails provided by the usual gaps thereat, Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating the bridge or block members moved to fill the gaps between the rails of the second track, Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the'line 33 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view ap-- proximately on the line 4+4: of Fig. 2;

In the drawings, 1' designates a railway crossing of the conventional form comprising two intersecting tracks-2 and 3 respectively. The main rails 22 of the track 2 at the corners of the "crossing connect or may be integrally formed with the main rails 33 of the track 3. The main rails 2 and 3 of the crossing proper have their ends spaced from the respective rails 2' and 3' and the short or guard rails 2 and 3 of the crossing are arranged at right angles to eachother and'are spaced from the rails 2 and 3. Short guard rails 2 and 3 connect with the ends of the main rails 2 and 3 respectively, the said rails 2 and 3 being spaced from the main rails 2 and 3 which extendfangularly from the crossing proper.

The rails 2 and 3 are slotted or cut-away,

as at and 5 respectively, so that the same are not jointed to the short rails 2 and 3 but provide a space equaling the distance between the guard rails 2 and 2 and 3 and 3 ,The crossing preferably rests upon a base or foundation 6 which is preferably rectangular in formation and of a width greater than that of the crossing at any cross section thereof, the said foundation or support having its upper face horizontally straight and supporting slidable members 7. Thesemembers 7 are arranged in pairs, two of the same'being disposed in contact with the outer faces of the respective rails 2 and 2 3 and 3? and the said members 7 have their ends of a width equaling the distance' provided by the cut-away portions or the space between the rails of the guard rails 2 and 3, and the main rails 2 and 3 offthe crossing, so that the ends of said members .7 will fill the gaps or spaces provided by the cut-away portions 4 and '5 and be freetoslide therethrough'to contact with the "respective rails or rail extensions 2 and v3 in a'manner which will presently be scr V v Integrally formed upon the outer faces of the rails2 and 2 and 3 and 3 are substantially rectangular lugs 8, while the upper faces at the inner edges of the spaced members are provided with rectangular depressions 9, the lower walls provided by the said depressions contacting with the underfaces ofthe lugs S and the said lugs are of a width siifiicient to at all times contact with the s'lidable members 7 when the same are forced against the rails 23 or when the said members are brought together, the lugs in the latter instance serving as stops for the said members The members 7 at their base portions preferably have their outer faces formed with flanges 10which afford the same a greater bearing upon the base or foundation of the crossing, and'the outer sides of said foundation are formed with a plurality of cleats 11, the upper edges of which being bent over the flanges 10 of the members 7 or otherwise provided with guide lips 12. The members 11 and 12 may be integrally formed with the foundation w 1611 the same is constructed of metaland are connected with the I said foundation when the same is constructed of plastic material. The pairs of members 7 are provided upon their sides and at suitable distance from their ends with elongated slots 12, the said slots being closed by plates 13, the end plates being provided with angular extensions 14 which are secured to the inner faces of the guard rail extensions 2 and 3, while secured to said plates and passing through the elongated slots 12 and entering the metal or body of the crossing below the rails 2"-3 are headed guide members 15.

Each of the respective members 7 is provided or is formed with an offset lug 16, one of the said lugs being arranged adjacent the base of one of the members 7 the said lug being extended from the side adjacent the bearing face or head of the second member 7 of the respective pairs of sliding blocks, while disposed centrally between each pair of members 7 and approximately centrally pivoted, as at 17, to a bracket 18 provided upon the outer faces of the foundation, is a rocker member 19. Connecting the brackets 16 with the rocker member 19 to the opposite sides of its pivot 17 are links 20, and also connected with the lower edge of the said rocker member is a longitudinally extending throw rod 25. Certain of these throw rods are connected with bell- -crank levers 22 which are pivoted adjacent the diagonally opposite corners of the crossing, while the remaining pair of bell crank levers which are indicated by the numerals 23 and 24 respectively are arranged adjacent one of the corners of thecrossing intermediate of the corners upon which the bell crank levers 22 are disposed. These last mentioned bell crank levers 23 and 24 respectively have also rod members 25 connecting the same with the rocker members 19 and the second arm of the respective bell crank levers 23 and 2a are each connected by a rod 27 and 28 with the aforementioned bell crank levers disposed adjacent the diagonally opposite corners of the crossing. Also connected with the arms of the bell crank levers 23 and 24: that have arranged thereon the rods 27 and 28 respectively are additional rods 30 and 31 respectively, the said rods leading to a switch box or sema phore, the same in the present instance being shown, for the purpose of illustration, in the form of an upright which is indicated by the numeral 32, and the said up right has pivotally secured to two of its opposite angular faces throw levers 33 and 3 1 respectively, one of said throw levers being connected with each of the rods 30-31.

the gap at the corners of the crossing.

Likewise when the second operating lever 34 is actuated, the oppositely disposed pair of slidable members or blocks 7 will be forced into contact with the inner faces of the rails 3, closing the gap at the ends of the rails C and also the gap at the corners of the crossing, and permitting the train to travel freely upon the track 2 without danger of its wheels contacting with the corners of the rails providing the gaps. In both instances, it is to be understood that the bearing faces of the wheels are of sufficient width to travel over the block 7. It is, of course, also to be understood that both of the levers 33 and 3 1 are not simultaneously actuated, and that after a train passes over one of the tracks, the lever is moved to bring the respective pairs of blocks 77 from between the rails.

From the above description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the simplicity of, the device as well as the advantages thereof will, it is thought, be perfectly apparent to those skilled in the art to which such invention appertains without further detailed description.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. Two intersecting tracks, a crossing arranged between the tracks at the intersection thereof, a foundation upon which the crossing rests, guard rails for the main rails terminating adjacent the corners of the crossing, bridge rails having outer flanges, said bridge rails resting upon the foundation and having their inner faces engaging the outer faces of the crossing rails, guide means upon the foundation embracing the base flange of the bridge rails, means for retaining the bridge rails against the crossing rails, means for operating the bridge rails to move certain of the same into contact with the inner faces of the main rails to close the gaps between the rails of one of the tracks.

2. Two tracks, one arranged angularly of the other, a crossing between the tracks, a foundation upon which the crossing rests, guard rails arranged parallel with the inner faces of the rails of the track and terminating adjacent the corners of the crossing, bridge rails arranged at the outer faces of the crossing and having one of their ends bers upon the foundation for the flanged base portions of the bridge rails, guide members co-acting between the crossing and the bridge rails, and means for actuating either of the opposite pairs of bridge rails to move the same away from each other to close the gap between the main guard rails of either of the tracks.

3. The combination with two angular-1y arranged tracks having a crossing at the intersection of the same and having guard rails which terminate adjacent the corners of the crossing, of a foundation upon which the crossing rests, said foundation extending beyond the outer faces of the crossing rails, the said crossing rails having their outer faces centrally provided with lugs, bridge rails arranged in pairs and resting upon the foundation, each of said bridge rails having one of its ends contacting with the end of one of the guard rails, each pair of bridge rails having their inner heads notched to contact with the lugs upon the crossing rails when the bridge rails are in one position, said bridge rails having outer base flanges, the foundation being provided with inturned lips which engage with the base flanges said bridge rails having elongated slots, plates crossing the slots, members pass ing through the plates and entering the crossing rails to force the bridge rails against the crossing rails, the outer corners of the base of each of the bridge rails being notched, and means comprising mechanism for operating either of the diametrically opposite pairs of bridge rails to slide the same in opposite directions to close the gaps between the guard and main rails to close either of the tracks.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN W. EAST.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH KNERR, PETER F. WOLFE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

